Category: John

“He must become greater; I must become less.” — John 3:30 (NIV)

John the Baptist clearly knew that since the Messiah, Jesus, has been revealed publicly — starting with the day that John himself baptized him — that his role in preparing the way was winding down. It is not clear that he had a sense of his impending death: King Herod would arrest him and after keeping him imprisoned for a season, would have his head chopped off. What is clear, however, is that John knew and embraced the idea that the time for him to shine as a preparer of the way was over.

The words he spoke here, while perhaps not intended for this purpose, nonetheless challenge us even today to consider how we might get out of the way so that Jesus might be seen in and through us. I do not believe that God intended for our personalities to disappear as we follow Jesus. But I am keenly aware of how much of my time and energy is spent devoted to me and my wants rather than to what is on God’s heart. The first and greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength”. My experience is that my own selfishness or egocentrism points to the fact that I only love the Lord my God with some of my heart and soul and mind and strength.

Continue reading “Are You Becoming Less for Jesus? (John 3:30)”

“A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.” — John 3:27 (NIV)

The quote here is given by John the Baptist in reply to a question he was asked about whether he was worried about his own popularity or his future, since many people had started going to Jesus and Jesus’ disciples to be baptized — the activity that had made John popular (along with his message of repentance). John didn’t launch into a pep talk about his strategy to revitalize his ministry — as I suspect many pastors and ministry leaders might today. Instead, he replied in a very un-American, non-Western way: that his success in ministry was something given to him by God, and that if God’s plan for John was to reduce his ministry or take him out of ministry altogether — well, that was something he could live with, because he was totally aware that the success he had in ministry was only because God had provided it — not because he himself had strived hard to make it succeed.

Continue reading “A Refutation of Spiritual Greatness and the Self-Made Man (John 3:27)”

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” — John 3:17-18 (NIV)

Jesus continues His thoughts by explaining that His coming into the world is a good thing: after all, His purpose in coming is to save the world! But what is He saving us from? He already answered that in the previous verse, but clarifies it in the following verse: He came to save us from perishing, with our deaths coming as a result of being condemned.

For many people, this is truly startling. Many people are oblivious to what is TRUE and REAL. Most people believe that they are “good enough” because they seem to rank favorably (in their own minds) against other people. To completely grasp the Good News of Jesus, it is necessary to grasp the bad news of our true state apart from Jesus.

In the movie “The Matrix”, the “normal” people of the world relied on their senses, but were unaware that what their senses picked up was just a simulation they were part of. They had to get outside of the Matrix in order to see the truth. Likewise, people are unaware of how the realest REAL can only be seen from outside the physical realm, from God’s vantage point.

Continue reading “Neo, Morpheus, and the 2 Pills: How Much to Tell? (John 3:17-18)”

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16 (NIV)

John 3:16 is probably the most memorized verse in the Bible, and not without good reason. Many cornerstone issues of life are packed into this single verse. First and most obvious is that God’s love for the world — which doesn’t mean the earth, but human beings living on the earth — is huge. God is not indifferent toward each of us, God is passionate for us. If He has any anger toward us for the way we have been living and ignoring or rejecting Him, it is dwarfed by the love He has for us.

Continue reading “B’lieve, Hon, So You Can Be Reconciled to God (John 3:16)”

“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” — John 3:3 (NIV)

The term “born again” has probably been overused since it was popularized in the seventies. This verse is where the saying originates. Nicodemus, one of the religious leaders, came to Jesus at night with questions about faith. These were sincere questions, and because of his position, he came at night so that he could ask them without being severely chastised by his fellow religious leaders. Jesus rarely gave simple answers. Rather, He gave answers that caused people to think, to be drawn out, and ultimately, to change. This conversation must have brought about the desired effect, because after Jesus was crucified, Nicodemus boldly helped bury his body, risking further approbation, and perhaps even death for siding with Jesus.

Jesus is saying that if we are alive, then we obviously had a physical birth. But you should not assume that you are spiritually alive just because you are physically alive. Spiritual birth happens as a result of another process, which Jesus describes in what is probably the most famous verse of the Bible, and which we shall look at in one of the next reflections. Until one is born spiritually, some say that you are spiritually dead. I’m not sure this is the most accurate term, because generally if something is dead it was once alive, while if you have not been born spiritually you might be considered “pre-born” or “unborn” or “not yet alive”.

Continue reading “You Need to Be Born Again, But That’s a Beginning, Not an End (John 3:3)”

During the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. — John 2:23-25 (NIV)

This passage is sobering and perhaps more than a little troubling, yet important for us to embrace, especially those of us in any kind of ministry. Jesus “knew what was in man”, and because of that knowledge, He did not entrust Himself to them. What was this thing that was (and is) in people that caused Jesus to be guarded in what He revealed? Contextually and from what Jesus experienced before His crucifixion, I think I can say that this is the fickleness of people — our ability to be passionate for one thing one day, and passionate for the opposite the next!

Continue reading “Fickleness of People (John 2:23-25)”

He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” — John 2:14-16 (NIV)

This certainly blows away images of Jesus as being perpetually mild-mannered and gentle as a lamb! The lamb is also a lion! This one man in action was unimpeded in overturning tables and single-handedly drove several people and many animals out of the temple. He wasn’t trying to clear the temple — only those whose purpose was commerce rather than prayer.

What lessons are we to take from this? Was Jesus angry because money was being exchanged? If so, ought we forbid Christian books and other items from being sold in our churches today? I would suggest Jesus anger had less to do with what was taking place in the temple and was really about what the buying and selling was interfering with.

Continue reading “How Dare They Prevent People from Drawing Near to God?! (John 2:14-16)”

Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” — John 2:3-5 (NIV)

To me, this is one of the most astonishing incidents of the whole Bible. Jesus’ mother presents a problem that this newly married couple is facing: they ran out of wine for their wedding feast, which was a serious embarrassment and a problem, too. There is a strong hint that Mary is asking Jesus to do something miraculous, both in the way that Jesus replies, and in Mary telling the servants to do whatever Jesus says. But the astonishing part is that Jesus more or less tells His mother “No”; His mother persists in faith; and Jesus does it, even though he already said No”.

Continue reading “The Power of a Mother’s Insistence (John 2:3-5)”